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| Three generations. I love this picture. Hermana Giles (my trainer), me, and the two sisters I've trained, Hermana Bustos and Hermana Caceres. So much love in just one picture. |
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| GAH! I miss her! |
Buenas tardes, President Murphy!
Wow, was this a crazy week. We didn't feel like very much was happening because by Sunday, we had only found one new investigator, and we didn't understand why our week was slow. We were working hard, and we were studying every day, but we just felt like we weren't having much success. However, after the conference with Elder Falabella, we did decide to do some things differently. On Saturday, we had lunch with our bishop and his family. Normally, they tell us to sit on the couch while they finish preparing lunch, but we decided to sit at the table, because Elder Falabella told us to learn to love the members more. For me, this meant interacting with them more on a personal level. So, while we were sitting and trying to have a conversation, the bishop's three kids, Daniella, Francisco, and Diana asked if we wanted to play Monopoly. Well, why not? And you know, I had never really talked to or gotten to know those kids before, but it was a really nice chance to get to know them better and feel a little more comfortable with that family. I think Geoconda, Bishop's wife, appreciated that we were entertaining her kids while she finished cooking.
Too, we are trying to listen more to people. Sometimes, I do get too focused on teaching the lessons, and not on focusing on the people because I feel like it's wasting time, but this past week, we went to visit Liliana Rosado. Her mom recently came into her life, and last Sunday, she met with her for the first time. So, we talked about it. She talked and talked, and it was really nice to just sit and listen. She didn't receive much affection when she was younger, and she feels badly that she isn't super affectionate with her kids, but after listening, we told her that it was okay. As long as she is doing her best as a mother, that's all that Heavenly Father asks. Liliana serves everyone. Everytime someone comes to her house, she feeds them. She looks after a three-year-old named Mateo almost every day because his parents don't care about him. And she serves her kids. So, we talked about service and how that's a form of demonstrating love, and I think it helped her, but we are hoping that maybe by finding friends within the church, she can feel like she's reached the shore. However, she told us she would come to church, and Sunday morning, we called her, and she said she had almost arrived, but never did, so we are going to need to find out what happened.
We are hoping that Mariana, Dora, and Allison can come to church this week so as to make their goal for December 2nd. We taught the Book of Mormon this past week, and Allison especially was interested. Sometimes, it's hard for her mom and her grandmother because they just get distracted easily, but we hope that Allison can help keep the lessons focused, because when they got a bit distracted, she scolded them a bit, and said, "Stop! We are reading!" It was pretty funny.
Sunday was a miracle. After church, we were feeling a little desanimado, because we had had a slow week, but Heavenly Father shows us miracles after the trial of our faith, and we found seven new investigators in between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. It was mostly on the part of Hermana Caceres. Holy cow, President, she is progressing like crazy. She just has no fear of talking to anyone and everyone, and she has the Spirit to help her know to whom to speak. She's taking the lead in lessons, and she's doing additional study on her own to better her teachings.
I know that Heavenly Father has His hand in this work. It wouldn't be possible without Him, and I'm grateful for my calling as a missionary. I'm grateful that I can be here and help other people come unto Christ.
Thank you for all of your hard work. Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Kennedy
Okay. To start off, a couple of humorous anecdotes for you:
First off, this week we went to visit a contact, and she wasn't home. However, there was this adorable puppy outside her house, and so of course, we picked it up. Well, I picked it up. Yes, I have a problem not touching the animals here. Anyway, we then heard a whining from inside the house and through the open window, we could see three very similar looking puppies inside. I felt bad that this pupper was outside, especially since he was whining to go in. But no one was home, and the window was open, so I did what any animal lover would do: I put him inside. However, I could only put him on the chair next to the window, but he was too scared to jump down, so I couldn't leave him there! So, I took my long, purple raincoat, put the pupper inside the hood, held the hood closed with his head sticking out, and slowly lowered him to the floor. Thankfully, he made it, and he walked right out to join his siblings. Yes, I probably shouldn't be putting puppies in houses, but he was so sad, and no one was around. Plus, I imagine it was fun for him, like a little elevator.
Okay, other animal-themed anecdote. So, as a white girl here in Ecuador, I get catcalled a lot. It's just part of life, and Ecuadorian women do it to the white elders too, so I think it's pretty normal. Anyway, we were walking and someone whistled, and I thought, "Well yep, no surprise there," but there were birds around who then picked up the whistle, so I walked up the street to birds catcalling me. We had a good laugh about that :-)
This past week, Elder Falabella of the Seventy came to visit again, and my zone, Ofelia, was asked to give the musical number. Three days before, the zone leaders called me and asked if I would lead it, or like get it together. Well, yeah! And President told me that day in interviews that if I could accompany on my viola, that would be awesome. Thankfully, I have a couple of arrangements of some hymns, so I decided on "I Feel My Savior's Love." I have an arrangement, and with The Children's Songbook, I could translate the words. So, I had to translate the words and copy them by hand (since, you know, we can't use a computer), and then I made copies. Meanwhile, I somehow had to get the music to an elder in our zone who can play piano, but he's far away, and we can only use the computer if we get permission from President or the assistants. So, all of Wednesday, he and I were calling the assistants to get permission, but they're busy guys, so they didn't answer until later at night. Thursday morning, I had to scan the music and send it to him. Then, I had to write a viola part. That was actually really fun. I got to go back to my music theory classes! Of course, I wouldn't know how it would sound until Friday morning when we would practice before the conference. So, we get to the conference early on Friday, and a bunch of other missionaries were already there, so it was loud, and I was trying not to snap at anyone because I was a little stressed and I really wanted it to be good, and then some missionaries from our zone didn't show up on time, but I was just trying to be nice and laugh. But when we practiced, first it was me directing the zone, and then after, I took 
Yes, Mama, my brain is very tired from having to speak Spanish all the time. Also, my tongue. Like, at the end of the day, it's hard for me to speak because my tongue is just so tired out. But I'm just building a stronger muscle, I guess :-) And yes, with native Spanish companions, I do feel like I'm forgetting English sometimes. I'll write sentences weirdly in my journal, and I'm just like, what in the world?
An ending thought: Everyone says that every companion you have will possess a certain characteristic of your future spouse. So, I'm starting to get an idea of what my future spouse will be like. Here are a couple of things I've noticed in common with my companions:
- They are almost all sweet, gentle, kind and patient people. Very good, because I am not very.
- They like to cook. Hermana Caceres is studying gastronomy, Hermana Bustos cooked for me when my ankle was broken, and she shows love through food. Hermana Franco loved cooking, and it was delicious because it was all Mexican. And Hermana Giles cooked. Maybe not because she loves to do it, but because she loved me.
- Hermana Giles and Hermana Caceres also both really, really love dancing.
- They have all liked music, and I haven't really had a single athletic companion. My poor children....
- And I think my future spouse will have had a lot of personal family trials. Hermana Bustos has an inactive, drug-addicted dad. Hermana Franco has inactive parents and has gone through a lot, and Hermana Caceres lost both of her parents two years ago.
Anyway, fun little fortune telling there for you.
Okay family, I love you all lots, and I love hearing from you! The Church is true! God loves you! I pray for you every day.
Have a fantabulous week!
Love,
Hermana Kennedy
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| My guagua de pan, and colada morada, eaten for breakfast on November 2, the Day of the Dead here in Ecuador. |
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| A cat named Pepe Lucha. He's basically want I want two of in the future. |
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